CONTENTS

MATTER PAGE

FOREWORD 3

GROWTH 5

FAMILY 18

EDUCATION 35

DESIRE 46

CONFIDENCE 61

KNOWLEDGE 67

DESTINY 74

LEADER 78

CONCLUSION 83

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All rights reserved

All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author. All legal actions are subject to the jurisdictions of courts of Kolkata, India. Inquiries should be addressed to Ishwar Nath Chaturvedi,2 Nazar Ali, Flat-1C, Kolkat-700019.

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FOREWORD

Growth is nature’s biggest gift. All objects, animate or inanimate, grow with time. What is essential is the growth in the correct way. Without it, full potential cannot be achieved. For this, planned efforts are needed. These are in various forms. Plants are looked after by farmers and gardeners; animals and birds by curators; human beings by teachers. Nature is give and take. It gives according to our acts. Writings are reflections of thoughts of writers; his family, education and training; successes and setbacks; aims and desires. Honesty, sincerity, discipline, planning, determination, dedication, concentration and patience are the raw materials. Decisions are the pathways. These are the basics for success. Games are important for physical and mental growth. They teach us quick decision

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making. Right decisions at the right time lead to success and achievements.

What I have learnt in life are from good education, working in a progressive multinational company and sports. My achievements and successes are the results of decisions at the right time. I am sharing them with examples from my life and lives of successful people.

The contents of the book are broken into chapters. Each chapter is important and has inherent message for growth. If you have queries, please send email to me at amitch@bsnl.in. Wishing you full success in life,

Ishwar Chaturvedi

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GROWTH

Growth is natural. What is important is the method of growth. It is either planned or unplanned. Planned growth is a must for all living beings. For this, knowledge and experience are required. To impart this from one generation to another, teachers are needed. Parents are first teachers. Learning for all living creatures begins from birth. First educator is mother and the first lesson is how to obtain milk from her. She teaches sucking which turns later into habit for many. Unless the elders advise to discard it, many find convenience in continuing. Best examples are lions and monkeys. While a lion provides to cubs protection from intruders, lioness initially arranges food and later teaches how to pray. When the lion realises that a cub can take care of himself, he forces him to leave and make his own herd. Monkeys also do this. The sooner a creature, including a

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human being, learns to be independent better it is.

While animals learn it early in life, human beings take time. Causes are several. First is the commune habit. Due to threats of harms from outsiders, commune living has become important. Though it is the need, it creates many dependents killing desire and efforts to progress. In evolution of human race, life out of the communes was not possible. With the passage of time, we were taught how to take care of life as individuals. Commune changed to community; community into society, society into joint families. Joint family concept in industrially developed countries has shrunk. In some, only parents are part of it. Internet technology has made life global. Professions are making people to move quickly from one place to another. So wife, husband and children are a family. In developing and under developed countries community

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living is still a big factor of growth. China, Africa, India and Pakistan are the countries with fast growth through community living. Joint families in them are its shorter form. The concept here is of co-operation and support. Due to this, industrial growth is faster in them. Disruption of economy in USA and Europe is changing them from individualism to socialism.

With complete failure of communism; corruption, greed and mismanagement of capitalism; socialism has become the path for growth. Today’s socialism is mixture of private and public enterprises. Best examples are China and India. For centuries, China was a communist country. Administration was by dictatorship. Every work was done as per the desires of a few powerful individuals called leaders. People not conforming to their desires were either killed or imprisoned for life. Masses were treated like animals. Economy was run on

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ideologies causing scarcities of daily needs. Concept of communism is classless society based on the principles of Karl Marx. The concept was failing. It had made two classes, rulers and ruled. While rulers had all comforts, ruled had no food, houses and education. In course of time, this led to mass revolt by the end of twentieth century. Communism was discarded. Mixed economy was adopted. Today China has the highest growth rate in the world. Moral of the story is that every person wants freedom to live, learn, earn, and spend.

India after freedom from British rule adopted socialistic pattern for economic development of the country and the people. Socialism is a mixture of communism and capitalism. Economically weak people are helped by Government in all ways. People with self resources have the independence to live, learn, earn and spend. Government is the watch dog. It warns and stops their

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wrongs. Under this system of mixed economy, means of growth are planned by the Government. Industrial development is divided between private and public sectors. Initially most of the industries were fully under state control. Politicians, bureaucrats and executors did not allow their industries to run on economic principles. They became unprofitable causing shut downs. This led to unemployment and unrest. Having realised the ills of malfunctioning of state run enterprises, policy has shifted to public and private partnerships; sales to private sector of loss making units; opening up industries to private sector.

Democracy of our time is defined as “of the people, by the people and for the people” Present day governments all over the world are run by democratically elected people through secret balloting. Method varies from country to country depending on the process laid down in their constitutions. Constitutions are

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books containing ways of running the country based on the concepts of its people. Concepts are mainly capitalistic, socialistic and interference by the government. Socialism is a controlled system with classification of work for government and individuals. Communism is full control of the government. All concepts have weaknesses and strengths. Under capitalism, amassing of wealth by individuals and states has become the motto of life. Socialism has led to planned and mixed growth for all. Communism has given absolute power to some individuals destroying initiative of masses to grow. Examples are U.S.A; India and Europe; USSR and China. Time has shown that socialism is the best. U.S.A., USSR and China have now adopted it for administration.

Working of governments is federal. Responsibilities of administration are divided between governments of the

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country and its states. Selection of people for governments is through elections after a gap of a fixed time. It is mostly a period of five years. Electing right persons free from self interests has become very difficult. Since control of administration comes automatically to them, dubious and corrupt means have built up. While in countries like U.S.A. and U.K. voting rights are given to responsible people with education and social status after testing their allegiance to country, in Asian, African and others it comes automatically to people after attaining a certain age. As an example, it is available in India to all after the age of 18 years. This has created large number of groups called political parties with variant ideologies, goals and aims. It has led to a poor governance, inequalities, fights, anarchy in many countries. Since Asia and Africa are new democracies, these are common there. So democracy has turned into mob rule.

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Politics now is a full time profession. When monarchy and feudalism were replaced by democracy through peaceful or revolutionary actions, aim was to serve without self benefits. So initially it proved the right way for development. Leaders were respected. Money and power cause corruption. Leaders became selfish and dishonest. Corruption in all democracies is the trend now. Amassing of wealth for parties and their leaders, members and supporters are the aims now in the garb of service to people. This has caused unrest, discontent and divides as rich and poor. India is a glaring example where rulers as elected members of Parliament and States are getting salaries, perquisites, allowances and pensions. To make the matter very clear, I quote below the open letter of an young Indian literary prize winning author, Chetan Bhagat, to Indian change seekers. It was published in Times of India, New Delhi, in December 2012:

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In recent weeks you have worked hard to make India a safer place. The recent Delhi gang rape dominated headlines and received worldwide attention, mainly due to your efforts. However, be mindful of the certain worrisome negative aspects of this outage. You may create a lot of noise, but not the desired change. It is important to understand India first.

India, no matter what your civics teaches you, is not an equal country. India is divided in four classes with different levels of power. For simplicity, let us call these classes the Ones, Twos, Threes and Fours (deliberately avoiding upper-lower classification)

The Ones are our political masters. They control India, primarily through control over land, resources and laws that govern us. They don’t directly own assets, but control the asset owners, the Twos.

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Twos are our industrialists and capitalists. They help and secure the power of Ones. Business magazines honor them with terms like ‘the dynamic entrepreneurs of a new liberalized India’. While some may deserve such accolades, most don’t. The Ones allows the Twos to become rich through limited competition and tightly regulated approvals. Real estate, mining, infrastructure or most other sectors, no company in India can thrive without the support of political class.

The next class the Threes, are people like you and me. We are people with amount of affluence and education, comprising around ten per cent of India’s population. While life is struggle for many Threes, they do not have basic standard of living. However, the Threes still do not get speedy justice, accountable leaders or a protective police force.

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Notably, Threes have recently acquired a new media power. They are affluent and buy things advertisers want to sell. Hence, the media caters to Threes. The Threes dominate social media too. This power is real and substantial.

The Delhi gang rape case victim was number Three, and the gruesome case made the rest of the Threes feel vulnerable like never before. They wanted the rape to be debated. Hence, for almost a month little else could be discussed in a country of 1.2 billion people. However, in the process, the Threes might have done some damage. For despite the well intentioned outcry, they inadvertently showed that they care about themselves more than other huge class, the Fours.

The Fours are 90% of the country, with limited education, abysmal standards of living and little hope for a better future. They are our farmers, slum dwellers, domestic helpers and hundreds of million

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Indians without proper healthcare, education and infrastructure. They get no debates on TV. People won’t protest for them at India Gate.

The Threes either shun them, or impose their new found modern values on them. For example, Fours may see women- men relationships in a regressive way. The Threes, exposed to the latest Western beliefs, will mock them.

If you noticed the various debates and opinions on the case, the Threes only accepted ideas in line with their own liberal, modern value system. Nobody could dare say anything even slightly alternative or stress on the Indian reality without being ridiculed.

The Threes found a new power, but used it like Ones and Twos – for self serving purposes

For will we ever passionately discuss the issues and lend our media power to issues that affect the Fours? Will we go

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to India Gate to help slum dwellers to get proper drinking water for instance?

As we alienate the Fours, we leave them open to be exploited by the Ones. The Ones echo should cover up and venture out at night. Suggest that while this old belief may come from a place of practical reality, this cannot be the primary solution. I am not saying these people are not regressive. However, if you want change, be inclusive.

India’s poor are not separate species from us. If the politicians didn’t protect the Twos so much, we could open the economy further, truly liberalize and create lot of opportunity.

In simple language what he says is that people cannot be self-centered. We have to work for good of others before we work for ourselves.

Ingredients of growth are family; education; desire; confidence; knowledge; destiny and leadership.

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These are for all. I take up first the family

FAMILY

For all living beings, life begins from the family. It is the seed of life. Seeds are of various kinds. While for vegetation quality of seed; soil; method of sowing, watering, pruning and harvesting; nutrients in the form of fertilisers and pesticides are essential for growth, factors are similar for animals, birds and human beings though with different names. For human, age, period and method are important for conception. Selection of mating partners in the form of female and males varies from clan to clan. Since clans were communes, mating was within the community. Evolutions have changed ways of living. From hunters, we became farmers, workers, traders, educators, preachers, and rulers. This changed lives of people and caused migration from one place to another; mating outside of the

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community by marriages or otherwise; changes in social and religious norms, ways of learning, living and earning. As an example, I cite the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi:

He was born on 2 October 1869 at Porbander in Gujrat in India. His forefathers initially were traders, but later became administrators in several Kathiawad states. His grandfather, Uttamchand Gandhi, was a Diwan (Prime Minister) in the State of Porbander. Intrigues and jealousy forced him to leave Porbander for Junagadh. It was under a Nawab (a Muslim ruler). He saluted the Nawab with his left hand. This was discourteous. He was asked to explain. His reply was that his right hand is already pledged to Porbander. The Nawab was impressed by his sincerity and accepted him as Diwan of his state.

His grandmother died early after having four sons. His grandfather married again.

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He then got two sons, Karamchand and Tulsidas. His grandmother had same love and affection for step sons as for her sons. Mohandas never thought in his childhood that these six brothers were not from one mother. This was the first lesson of his life and taught him respect and affection for members of a joint family. Karamchand was his father. He had to marry four times due to deaths of wives. He had two daughters from his first wife. Putlibai, the fourth wife, had a daughter and three sons. Mohandas was her youngest child. His father was the Prime Minister in the state of Porbander and a member of Rajasthan court, a powerful place for settling disputes mostly between chiefs and fellow clansmen. He was for some time Prime Minister of Rajkot and Vankaner.

Parents impart values to children. While mother teaches love, affection and respect, father builds up confidence, courage, honesty, discipline and

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dedication. An incident in the life of his father, Karamchand, speaks of these values. He was incorruptible, loyal, and impartial. He had thus earned respect from everyone. An Assistant Political Agent spoke rudely to his employer Thakore Saheb of Rajkot. Karanchand retaliated. The Agent got angry and asked to apologise. He refused and the Agent detained him for a few hours. When he found that Karamchand did not yield to his pressure, he released him.

In those days, common people had no craze for Macaulay’s education. They believed in having elementary education. Karamchand, therefore, studied up to fifth standard in Guajarati institutes. His practical administrative experience helped in overcoming difficult situations. He was very religious, attended regularly discourses on scriptures and read Gita every day. He never desired to accumulate wealth and property.

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Putlibai, mother of Mohandas,was very saintly and religious. She had utmost faith in God and worshiped Him every day. She was intelligent with commonsense. She kept herself fully informed of the state and other matters. Courts and ladies consulted her on all subjects. She enjoyed discussions with the widowed mother of Thakore Saheb (ruler) of Porbander.

Mohandas’s education started at the age of seven years in a primary school at Rajkot where the family had moved from Porbander on his father’s appointment as a member of Rajasthan court. In those days, school education was in three phases, primary, suburban and high school. He was a mediocre shy student. So he had no friends. His books and lessons were sole companions. To be in school at the right time and return home as soon as the classes were over was his routine. Though he was shy of people, he was very truthful and honest. Once an

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inspector came to his class in his first year in school and did spelling test with five words. One word was ‘kettle’. He had written it wrongly. His class teacher kicked his foot and hinted to copy from the other student. Since the teacher was there as a supervisor, his duty was to ensure that no one copied. Mohandas did not listen to him. As all students had spelled all the five words correctly, the teacher called him stupid. He was not for cheating. Despite this incident, his respect for the teacher did not diminish and taught him not to find faults in others, the nature of most of the people.

There are two more incidents with lasting impact throughout his life. Since he took time to learn class lessons, he had no liking for reading other books. His father loved to read religious books. He bought the book ‘Sharavana Pritibkhti Natak’, a play on the devotion to parents. His eyes fell on the book prompting him to read it. One of the pictures was of Sharavana

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Kumar carrying in a sling his blind parents for pilgrimage. He got killed mistakenly by king of Ayoudha Dasrath (father of God Ram) when he was at the river for getting water to quench the thirst of the parents. The cry of parents on knowing that their son was killed had big impact on him. It taught him to understand the pains of others and it became the motive of life.

His parents liked seeing religious dramas. Mohandas came to know of a play in his town on the life of king Harishchandra. He wanted to see it. As he never did anything without permission and approval of parents, he expressed his desire to them. They gave him permission.

Raja Harishchandra was a very honest king. He was known for never telling a lie. Once, God came to test his faith. He told Harishchandra to simply leave the palace. He left with just his wife and son. Now the God disguised as a priest asked

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him to give him a donation (Dakshina) of half a kilo of gold. As the king had left everything behind, he said this was not possible. God did not accept it. He said that he could give him time to give him the dakshina. So he promised to work and give the half kg of gold within a few months. Harishchandra and the family went to another kingdom looking for work. They requested the King for work. The King agreed and gave them jobs. Harishchandra got a job at a cremation ground. For every cremation he would receive a gold coin. The king gave their son Rohitdas work of getting flowers every morning for his prayer.

His wife Taramati got a job at a prostitute’s house. She was very jealous of her royal status. She made her to do difficult work. The prostitute asked Taramati to fetch water from the pond in a big earthen pot telling her that she would lose the job if the pot broke. It was difficult for her to lift the pot. She asked

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her husband to help her. He said that he would not do it because they were to do alone their work. He gave to her a solution. He told her to walk into the water till the water was to her shoulders and then place the pot on her head. She did so and could retain her job.

Their son was bitten by a snake in the garden while plucking flowers. The king asked him to go to his mother. Taramati ran around trying to find a cure for the snakebite, but could not get help. The son died. She took the body to the cremation ground. Her husband refused to cremate the son without being paid a gold coin. She asked Harischandra to kill her as she had no use of her life. He asked her to kill him because he also did not want to live. When they were about to kill each other, God appeared and revived the son. Harischandra said that he had to continue to work for the King to pay the priest. God took back his directive and returned his kingdom to him.

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The two plays had big impact on him. He made them his ideals and decided to follow always the path of truth and honesty.

Child marriages were very common then. Mohandas had two elder brothers. Marriages were among the close relatives and friends. Parents used to select boys and girls themselves with the help of family members. Sons and daughters were not consulted. Mohandas’ eldest brother was already married. Parents decided to marry him, his elder brother and a cousin together to save expenses. Mohandas was of thirteen years. He and his wife Kasturba were of same age. Since girls after marriage were to look after family, husband and children, there was no literary education for them except teaching of cooking and housekeeping. So Kasturba was illiterate, could not even write her name in Gujrati, her mother tongue. Mohandas had great desire to teach her reading and writing in her

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mother tongue, but could not do it due to family rule of not seeing the wife in daytime. However, he could teach her to read books and write simple letters. In course of time, her simplicity, truthfulness, affection became the strength of Mohandas.

Mohandas’ ancestors did not have Macaulay’s methods of learning. Realising its importance in the changing world, all the three brothers were sent to high schools. After marriage during this time, the two brothers gave up studies for leading family life. It was the custom then in most of the Hindu families. Since Mohandas was good in studies, elders wanted him to continue studies after matriculation. Colleges were few then. Family selected two, one in Bombay and another at Bhavnagar. Bhavnagar was cheaper. So he took admission there in Samaldas College. Teaching was in English. He was not good in it. So he

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could not understand lectures of teachers. He got disappointed and returned home.

Family had an old friend, Mavji Dave. He was well educated, clever and advisor to the family. He had come during Mohandas’ vacation. He asked his mother and brothers about his education. Learning that he was at Samaldas College, he advised the family that he would get a graduate degree after four year; get a lowly paid clerical job and would not get his father’s job of Diwan (Prime Minister) of the state of Porbandar. Instead, he should go to England to be a Barrister in three years. Mavji had many friends in England and would give letter of introduction to them so that Mohandas faced no difficulty. Mohandas and his brothers and mother accepted the proposal and arranged money from relative and friends. He sailed for London on 4 September 1887 at the age if eighteen years with Mavji’s

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successful lawyer friend, Tryambakrai Mazumdar.

As the sailing time to London was three weeks, passengers normally interacted with each other. Mohandas was weak in English. He could understand but could not converse. Mazumdar had good knowledge of English. So he was mixing talking freely with others. He advised him to do so. English was the court language. So lawyers must know it well. Also, English was a foreign language. So he was not expected to be perfect in it. Mohandas then was very shy. So he did not heed to the advice. However, an old man drew him in conversation. He made him to share a table with him and told him not be shy of mixing with others. He asked several questions about his family, food, destination and reasons for leaving his country. When Mohandas said that he was vegetarian, he laughed and advised him to eat meat and drink liquor. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to

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survive in cold climate. Mohandas mentioned of his promise to his mother that he would remain vegetarian. This showed his commitment to elders.

He arrived in London. With the assistance of Mazumdar, family friends and friends made by him, he qualified as Barrister. He returned and was received at the Dock by his elder brother. He wanted to meet his mother and get her blessings before starting his professional career. His brother told him that she was not alive. To save him from pain and sorrow in a far away foreign land, he was not informed. Grief of losing mother was more than of father. He bore it internally without external expression. His brother wanted him to start practicing in Bombay. As he had no knowledge of Indian laws; functioning of courts; use of common English maxims; drafting of complaints, petitions, affidavits, he had severe misgivings about succeeding in legal profession immediately. While he

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was in England, he could meet the two Indian luminaries, educationist Dadabhai Naoroji and lawyer Pherozeshah Mehta. Both were very successful. His ambition was to be like them. He was confused about achieving this goal .His friend advised that he should seek the advice of Frederick Pincutt, a conservative friend of Indians. Mohandas met him and told him of his disappointment. He said that every person is different and should never think to be like others. Such thought causes pessimism. Efforts with honesty and sincerity; knowledge of needs of people; ability to understand, analyse feelings; common sense; are sufficient for good earnings. Reading of books helps in developing these qualities. He began reading books. Tolstoy’s ‘The Kingdom of God is WithinYou’ and Ruskin’s ‘Unto this Last’ became his motives of life.

On realising that Mohandas must have got accustomed to English way of living,

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his family began adopting changes in food by introducing tea, coffee, cocoa, porridge etc; using crockery and cutlery; wearing European dresses. Expenses increased. Earnings at Rajkot would not be adequate to cover expenses. So he decided to go to Bombay. Law profession was working through commissions, bribes, dishonesty, cheating clients. Being a follower of honesty, sincerity and truth, he was not very successful at Bombay. A family friend was having a case in South Africa. He required a person for follow up. He made offer to Mohandas of working on fixed monthly retainer and all other expenses would be paid by his firm. Mohandas accepted the offer and moved to South Africa.

In South Africa then was extremely racist. People were classified as while and blacks. They were living separately; were not allowed to enter white areas; not to travel in trains and buses with whites. Having learnt the traits of his

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family of non-discrimination and respect for all, he began non-violent civil disobedience movement in South Africa for civil rights which became very successful. In course of time, racism was removed.

On completion of the period of assignment, Mohandas returned to India in 1915 and saw the miseries of Indian workers and farmers. He began protest against excessive land-tax and discrimination; assumed leadership of Indian National Congress in 1921; led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending cast discrimination; achieving self-rule. His actions are well known to all. So there was no need to mention them here. His belief in achieving goals through non-violence is the biggest gift to mankind.

Life of Mohandas shows contributions of families in making lives of children.

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EDUCATION

Education is the backbone of life. It begins from the time of conception and ends with death. Issac Newton, the great scientist, has aptly defined it by stating “I consider myself like a small child playing on the sea shore picking up pebbles while the vast ocean of learning lies before me.” Knowledge is not only in the books, but is all around from conception to death. Lessons learnt by Prahlad and Avihmanyu, while in mothers’ womb, were used to face realities of life. Hindu religion goes further. Education of soul begins after death to imbibe right values and purify for next birth. Values are essence of life. Values make culture. Indian joint families are institutions. They are the back bone of our society. They not only teach art of living but take care of basic needs of every member. Mental strength and contentment of Indians are their gifts. However, the fast pace of the

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present time has put them under high pressure.

Migration of people from village to city is breaking links of families. Growth of civilisation has turned people in to robots. Pressure of work and studies leave no time for interaction. How to impart family norms, values, culture, thoughts, traditions, religion and rites to children is now the responsibility of parents. Due to financial pressure, mothers have to do jobs. They therefore cannot give full attention to children in their formative years. This has become a big problem for working parents. Families where grandparents are living with their children do not have this problem. They imbibe in grand children the same ethics and culture given to their children. Others have to take help of baby sitters, crèches and nursery schools. This has its plus and minus points. Children brought up in this way are either meek or obstinate. Though they get

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exposure to outside world at the formative period of life, they remain aloof of the family values. Many get selfish and lack feelings for others. To elaborate this, I give below some examples.

Life of Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, the renowned scholar, educationist, teacher and reformist of Bengal, popularly known as Vidyasagar due to his knowledge similar to an ocean, is a complete example. Born on 26 September 1820, he was the son of Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay and Bhagavati Devi of Birsingha village, in Ghatal subdivision of Western Midnapore. They knew the importance of education in life. As the village had no school, parents decided to take help of a friend in Calcutta. At the age of six years, he was sent to Bhagabat Charan living for years in Burrabazar at Calcutta. He settled down easily in Bhagabat's large family. Bhagabat's youngest

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daughter Raimoni's motherly affection for Ishwar touched him deeply and had a strong influence on his revolutionary work for lifting of women's status in Indian society.

His desire for knowledge was so strong that he studied in street lights as the family could not afford a gas lamp at home. He passed all the examinations with excellence and in quick succession. He got several scholarships for his academic performance. To support himself and the family, he did part-time job of teaching at Jorashanko. In 1839, he passed Law examination. Learning successfully basics of education and family living made him an icon of progress.

Another example of progress through education is of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar popularly known as Baba Saheb. Born on 14 April 1891, he was the fourteenth child of Ramji and Bhimabai Sakpal Ambedkar who was from untouchable Mahar Caste. His father served in the British Army. Indian

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caste system was very rigid then. .In school, he had to sit on the ground in one corner in the classroom, drink water only when other people poured it for him and teachers could not touch his books.  Even though he had all these hardships, he continued his studies and did his Matriculation Examination from Bombay University in 1908. He was then married to Ramabai, a nine-year old girl from Dapoli. He joined the Elphinstone College for his further education and graduated in political Science and Economics from Bombay University. He took job in Baroda. In 1920, he left for London for higher studies. After finishing his studies in London, he returned to India. In 1924, he commenced the Outcastes Welfare Association (Bahishkrit Hitkaraini Sabha). This Sabha was devoted to bring up the downtrodden socially and politically to the same level as of others in the Indian society.

In 1925, he was appointed to the Bombay Presidency Committee to work with the all European Simon Commission.  Ambedkar was appointed as principal of

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the Government Law College in 1935. Settling in Mumbai, he constructed a large house and made his personal library with more than 50,000 books. He published his book ’The Annihilation of Caste’ in 1937 based on the theme he had written in New York. The book strongly criticised Hindu religious leaders and the caste system. It became very popular. He accepted the Congress decision to call the untouchable community ‘Harijans’, a name given by Gandhiji. He explained the formation of Shudras, the lowest caste of Hindus, highlighting how Shudras are separate from untouchables and founded the Independent Labour Party in 1936 that won 15 seats in the 1937 elections to the Central Legislative Assembly.  In 1947 when India got Independence from British, the first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru invited him join his Cabinet as a Law Minister.  The Constituent Assembly assigned the job of drafting the Constitution to a committee and he was elected as Chairman of this Committee. He introduced the Draft of Constitution in 1948. The draft was approved on 26 November 1949. He wrote many

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thoughtful books changing the narrow views of many Indians. He thus became an Indian political leader, Buddhist activist, philosopher, anthropologist, great economist, historian, orator, prolific writer and reformist.

How a person from a small village of India became an international genetics scientist is the story of Har Gobind Khorana. He was born in 9 January 1922 in Raipur. He was the youngest child of Ganpat Rai Khorana, a collector of tax in the village. Though his family was not rich, it was one of the few literate families of their village. His early education was under a tree in the village by a primary teacher and high school was in Multan in Punjab. He studied Chemistry on a government scholarship at Punjab University in Lahore graduating in 1943 and receiving a Master of Science degree thereafter. He worked at Cambridge University under Sir Alexander Todd, who received the Noble Prize for his great contribution on nucleic acids. While with Todd, he got interested in biochemistry of nucleic acids. In 1952, he became the Director of

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the British Columbia Research Council’s Organic Chemistry Section in the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He made his first contribution in the field of biochemistry. He and his colleague, John G. Moffat, developed an economical process for synthesizing acetyl coenzyme A, an essential molecule in the biochemical processing of proteins, fats and carbohydrates within the human body. This coenzyme then was available through a very expensive method of isolating the compound from yeast. This project gave them International recognition. To develop relativity inexpensive method of synthesis of acetyl coenzyme A, a complex molecule used in biochemical research, he succeeded in cracking the genetic code of yeast of a nucleic acid molecule. For this, he received the Noble Prize for physiology and medicine. India honoured by awarding Padma Shri in 1998. He did other significant work including the synthesis of the completely artificial gene.

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Life of tenth Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, is a glaring example of achievements through education. He was born on September 26 in 1932 in Punjab in a Sikh family. His father was Gurmukh Singh and mother was Amrit Kaur. His mother expired when he was a child. He was brought up by his paternal grandmother. He was a hard working student. As his village did not have electricity, he studied under candle light. After the Partition of India, they moved to Amritsar where he was admitted in Hindu College. He thereafter moved to Chandigarh. In 1952, he obtained Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in 1954 in Economics from Punjab University in first division.  He then to went Oxford University and obtained the degree of Doctorate in Economics in 1962. He returned to India and worked in Punjab University and Delhi School of Economics as a lecturer. He joined Indian Civil Services as an economics adviser in the commerce ministry in 1971. He was appointed chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance in the year 1972.

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In 1991, he made the transition from a bureaucrat to a politician when he was appointed a member of Rajya Sabha and became the Finance Minister in Prime Minister P.V.Narashimha Rao’s government. With the support of Narashimha Rao, he did economic reforms by removing red tape and increasing productivity. He ended protectionism and opened the Indian economy to foreign investment so that the country could be a mixed economy saving it from the extreme of bankruptcy. As a result, the economy started to show signs of strength. He became the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1982 to 1985, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission from 1985 to 1987, finance Minister from 1991 to 1996. He helped in opening the Indian economy to greater International trade and investment.

His career was unsettled as he was not magnetic nor a traditional politician. He lost the only time he contested a parliamentary election for the Lok Sabha. Starting from 1998 till 2004, he was a leader of the opposition but in May 2004,

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he became the first Sikh Prime Minister when the Congress Party won the coalition majority in the National election. Though he had never won a parliamentary election, he stays in Rajya Sabha as a representative of a state Government. After the Indian National Congress won the 2009 general election, he was reappointed as the Prime Minister of India.

Purpose of giving the above examples is to prove how education has helped individuals of modest background to grow in life. This concept has been followed in all parts of the world. History is full of lives of such individuals. Progress through education is not confined to individuals only, every organisation follows this. When a person joins an army as a soldier, he is given training for building up physical strength; use of fire arms and equipments; respect of junior, colleagues, seniors and public; awareness of his duties and responsibilities. He is assigned work thereafter. Groups working for providing services to others, teach the rules, norms and aims of their organisation to their

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people before assigning responsibilities. Similarly, business enterprises have induction programmes for imparting aims, ethics, values, job needs to individuals.

DESIRE

Desire is the backbone of growth. Even education is a part of it. Though the parents initially fix the aims for their children, responsibility to reach the goals is with individuals. Aims are mostly linked to the activities of the family. An army man wants his child to join the army; doctors, lawyers, accountants, sportsmen want him in their professions; businessmen want him to be in business. With democracy as a mean of governance now, children of politicians are making politics as their career. History is full of desires, opportunities and actions of successful people in every nook and corner of our world. To elaborate, I give below the following examples of Indians.

Late Dhiru Bhai, Mukesh and Anil Ambanis are examples. Dhiru Bhai

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started his career abroad in middle east as a petrol pump attendant. His dedication; interest in the work; desire to learn; honesty, sincerity and integrity in dealings were the steps of success. After his death, the brothers, Mukesh and Anil, divided peacefully Dhiru Bhai’s business assets to further the success of their father.

Another example is of Birlas. They are from the town of Pilani in Rajasthan. Some members of the family of Baldeo Dasji moved from there to Calcutta in early part of the twentieth century. Ghanshyam Dasji was one of them. Three contemporary family business groups existing in India today can trace their ancestry to Ghanshyam Dasji. Of these businesses, he wanted to turn the money lending business into manufacturing. So he came to Calcutta,  largest jute producing region of the world then.

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He established a jute firm, much to the annoyance of established European merchants, whom the biased policies of the British government favoured other than the local Bengali merchants. He had to overcome many obstacles as the British and Scottish merchants tried to shut his business by unethical and monopolistic methods. But he was able to survive. When World War I resulted in supply problems throughout the British Empire, he took advantage of this. He could grow his business.

An episode shows his determination. Bird & Company was a very successful in jute business. They had an office in India Exchange Place and a mill at Budge Budge. All business associates were English. Very few Indians were allowed to enter the office. Ghanshyam Dasji realised the potential of the business. He decided to do it. To overcome the first hurdle of entry, he made friendship with a peon of the

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office. Once inside, he found out of the name of the officer in charge of purchase of raw jute and could meet him once with the help of the peon friend.

The officer was not interested in buying from him, but did not say no to harass him. He gave time of meeting, but was not there at the fixed time. Ghanshyam Dasji realised his trick. He went to the office at the time of appointment and stayed till the officer came. In those days, Indians were not allowed to sit anywhere in the office. Many times waiting period was of long hours. So he took help of the peon whose work was to distribute the office mail. As soon as Ghanshyam Dasji entered the office, he would begin distribution. This gave the chance to Ghan Shyam Dasji to sit on his stool. Once, the officer saw him sitting on the stool. He told Ghanshyam Dasji that he had broken the office rules. Ghanshyam Dasji denied doing so. He answered that there was no rule that one cannot sit on a

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vacant stool. The officer was impressed by his wit. He became friendly thereafter and enlisted him as a supplier.

In course of time with his sincerity, honesty, hard work and thrift, he could buy Bird & Company when English men decided to sell and leave. He also bought a big plot of land; named it Birla Nagar; developed it; named the establishment Birla Jute Mill. He brought from Pilani and other places known people; provided food and lodging; employed at positions commensurate with their knowledge and abilities and had them trained for the functions of the business. He was not contended with one business and entered other businesses when opportunities came. He allowed his employees to do their businesses. Many of them became successful industrialists. Ghanshyam Dasji could thus build his business empire and the lives of people.

He decided to diversify business in other areas. With an investment of Rs.

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50,00,000, in 1919 a managing agency firm named Birla Brothers Limited was formed. A mill was set up in Gwalior in the same year. In 1926, he was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly of British India; became the founder President of Harijan Sevak Sangh formed by Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi in 1932 .

In 1940s, he established Hindustan Motors near Calcutta on a big plot of land for making cars. After independence, he invested in tea and textiles through a series of acquisitions of erstwhile European companies; cement, chemicals, rayon and steel tubes; set up in Calcutta in 1943 United Commercial Bank Limited with Indian capital and management. Recent example is of Rama Prasad Goenka (RP), popularly known as Ramababu. He was born in Calcutta in 1930 in an established business family;

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graduated in History from Presidency College; did Advanced Management programme at Harvard University. On returning to Calcutta, he took a job on the then princely monthly salary of Rs.300/- in Duncan Brothers to learn the basics of good management; joined family business of jute, textile and tea looked after by his father Keshav, started in 1820 by Ramdutt Goenka who had migrated from Rajasthan to do business with East India Company. Business increased after his grandfather Badridas Goenka was awarded Knighthood by the British government.

After independence of India in 1947, Englishmen, who were doing practically all businesses of India mostly from Calcutta, started leaving after selling to Indians. His father Keshav bought Duncan Brothers and Octavius Steel, two sick and limping units, at very low prices. Being successful in making them profitable in a short period, he bought

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tea, tyre, automobile, jute, cotton textile and electric cable companies. In early 1970 before his death, he handed over his companies to his three sons. By now RP had developed acumen in acquisition and merger of faltering businesses. He had also matured as an honest and ethical businessman as was proved by the following incident.

Neville Wadia, father of Nusli, got disgusted in running his businesses due to stringent and capricious rules of Indian government which were stifling the progress of industries. He decided to leave India and settle down in Switzerland after selling his most profitable company, Bombay Dyeing –then a textile giant. Knowing that his 26 year old son Nusli would never agree, he clandestinely negotiated a deal with RP and left for London. Nusli became furious to know this. He went to Jamsetji Tata and requested for his help. He acquired 11 per cent of shares and went

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to London to confront his father for challenging his unilateral decision. Jamsetji requested RP to return to Nusli his company. RP did it. As the deal with Neville was signed and delivered, he could have legally refused. This act of feelings for others earned every ones’ appreciation and respect.

Till 1970, he shared the business with his youngest brother Gauri Prasad. To create opportunities for their young generation, the brothers decided to separate. RP created his own identity by forming RPG Enterprises with Philips Carbon Black, Asian Cable, Agarpara Jute Mill and Murphy India as its constituents. He began a blizzard of acquisitions thereafter from 1980 by taking over tyre maker Ceat India, cable maker KEC, Searle India (renamed RPG Life Sciences), U.K. companies Dunlop India, CESC and Gramophone Company of India (now Saregama India). He had to part with Dunlop India due to ethical

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dissent with NRI partner Manu Rajaram Chabaria. He had the foresight to resolve succession issue between his two sons after his death. He divided his business between two sons.

Jamsetji Tata’s desire to grow is another example. In 1860 when he was in Britain, he heard presentation by Thomas Carlyle on steel stating that steel would be gold in future. This aroused his desire that India should make steel. He discussed his idea in the summer of 1900 with the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, but had no response from him. Being a person of strong mind, he went to George Hamilton, the Secretary of State for India, in London. Having received a favourable response from him, he applied for prospecting licence. He started the work in India, went to Europe and America with samples of coal and iron ore. In Germany, he had experiments done on coking of coal. Looking for an expert for processing of iron ore, he went

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to New York and could find Harvard graduate metallurgist Charles Page Perin. He explained his idea and convinced him to accompany him to India. Work for making a steel plant at Jamshedpur was begun, but could not be started before the death of Jamsetji. His son Dorabji had it completed. The word ‘Tata’ was used for the first time when the project was named ‘Tata Steel’. Jamsetji never used the name ‘Tata’ for any of his earlier companies, Empress in 1874, Svadeshi in 1882 and Indian Hotels in 1903 except his shipping line. The prestige of his name was used for the first time by his sons and colleagues.

Another example of Jamsetji’s desire is his interest in aviation. When Jamsetji came back to India at the age of 21 years after his education in England, his father wanted him to learn the art of management. His father had a friend John Peterson, a Scotsman. He was in Indian Civil Service as director of

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ammunition. His father coaxed him to leave civil service to help him in growth of his business. His other thought was to develop Jamsetji as his protégée. Peterson agreed and Jamsetji was given a seat in his room. He asked Jamsetji to read his incoming and outgoing mails. Between 1926 and 1931, his formative years, he learnt a lot from him and developed respect for each other. Once, Jamsetji was driving in Vienna with Chairman Sir Dorabji. Dorabji began criticising Peterson. Jamsetji at once told him that it was wrong to speak ill of a colleague and also what he was saying was not true.

Jamsetji wanted to be a pilot. He learnt flying and obtained his licence in 1929. He received a proposal for a commercial flight from Karachi to Bombay. He mentioned it to Dorabji. Tata’s were just recovering from a bad time. So Dorabji turned down the proposal. Jamsetji was very disappointed. Peterson came to

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know this. He could convince Dorabji of the future of aviation industry. Permission was given. Tata Airlines was set up. Later, the name was changed to Air India.

Evaluation of actions is very important for sustaining growth. Time is the biggest teacher. One has to live and adjust with trends of time. Individuals are the tools of progress and decline. They not only make their lives but also of the community. Tatas are great examples. After setting up the steel plant, they have responded to the needs of the time. Dr. Jamshed Irani. Managing Director of Tata Steel observed that steel making process was changing very fast. So he felt that the company required modernisation. Jamsetji was not keen. So Dr.Irani told him that unless modernisation is done, they would be selling tickets at the gate for their steel museum. Jamsetji understood the need and asked his team to work on it. This made Tata Steel a modern producer by 1990. This policy is continuing. The company is not only confined to India, it

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has moved out and acquired steel plants and raw material sources outside the country. Its acquisition of Corus Steel, an Anglo and Dutch company, three times its size through the world wide bidding process, speaks of the confidence and desire of its decision makers.

Satellite communication is a great discovery of twentieth century. Communication through net has made the people and communities global. Keeping with this trend, Tatas have kept growing continuously for nearly 150 years by getting into different industries as per the demand of the time. For monitoring the growth and diversification, Tata Sons was formed. Managers in charge of projects were its members. It became a appraising and decision making body. With the opening up of Indian industries in 1990 for participation of the private sector, many new projects like communications, automobiles, plastics, insurance, aviation, chemicals were begun. In 1991, Ratan Tata had just taken charge of Tata group as chairman. Tatas had started new projects in all of these sectors.

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Companies till now were independent units. It was very difficult to implement his ideas. Therefore, he formed Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM) under the supervision of Tata Sons director Jim Setna. After his retirement, Dr. Jamshed Irani took its charge. The idea was a big success. Every group company was made to have a formal agreement with Tata Sons. Twice a year, about 600 senior directors and officers meet to discuss and evaluate the existing business and plan new companies.

Tata trademark and brand name are the property of Tata Sons. It is a symbol of business excellence. All companies and their employees have to sign a code of conduct. Performance of the company is assessed by externals assessors for rating the work of the company. Group Executive Office (GEO) was formed to evaluate performance; do restructuring, mergers, acquisitions, disinvestments of companies. Its members were executive directors of Tata Sons. A common brand name with logo was created for use and display by the companies. To maintain values, ethics and traditions of Tata’s,

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code of conduct and operating norms were made for administration of companies.

CONFIDENCE

Confidence is faith in abilities. It has interconnected basics. Concentration is control and application of abilities. Patience is persistence. All acts are from them and apply to every creature. Hunting animals and birds are the best examples. They watch the prey; have confidence to act; wait patiently to strike at the right time and place. Human beings always do this in all acts of life. Mental fitness or strength can be secured by utmost concentration, patience and confidence. Emotions are to be controlled and not shown. Showmanship and gamesmanship of critics are to be ignored. Teams and individuals now have permanent psychiatrists to build confidence.

An episode in my life is a perfect example. In a Davis Cup single game in early sixties between India and Australia

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in Calcutta on the grass court of South Club, Dibley of Australia was playing against Jasjit Singh of India. It was a close contest for over 2 hours. Dibley developed crams in one of his legs and was attended by a doctor on the court as per the rules of the game. After playing two more games, he complained again of the pain. Doctor was called. Ramanathan Krishnan known for his sporting spirit and called a poker faced person due to expression less face was the non playing captain. I was the service line judge and was sitting next to him. Since it was a crucial stage of the match, Krishnan had felt very agitated, but had no expression on his face. He was quiet during the first stoppage. When Dibley complained second time, he got the impression that it was a strategy of the Australian to break Jasjit’s concentration. Krishnan uttered very softly some obscene words. Since I was very near to him, I heard him and came to know of his internal emotions which are natural under stress. Lesson is

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that one should have patience to remain cool to face provocations; confidence to succeed and concentration in acts. Losing patience makes more enemies than friends. Due to coolness of temper, Bejorn Borg, the tennis legend, had pulse rate of 60 to70 beats per minute and could win most of his close matches.

You cannot win or achieve goals of life unless you think you can. This theory is proved by lives of several successful persons. Two examples, one of a sportsman and another of an astronaut, illustrate this point. Sportsmen are advised to play aggressively when opponent is proving powerful and they are losing badly in spite of best efforts. If this clicks, even seasoned players get upset. This is how the great master of Indian tennis, Ramanathan Krishnan, had spoiled the victory plan of Thomas Koch in the Davis Cup Zonal Final in 1966 in Calcutta on the grass court of South Club when India was playing Brazil. Down 5-

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2 and thirty love in the fourth set in a five set game, he unleashed four consecutive returns of serves to win the game, set and match.

Other example is the ambition of the astronaut, Niel Armstrong, from his childhood to be a part of NASA missions and programmes. He was born on 5 August 1930 in a remote area of America Wapakoneta in Ohio. Since his father was a government employee, the family had to move frequently from one place to another. Niel had his first plane ride at the age of 6 years. He fell in love with aviation and developed the desire to make this his career. He came to know that lot of money is required to learn flying. So from the age of 15 years, he started saving money, took lessons to fly different aircrafts and could get soon his pilot’s licence. He studied under Purdue University. His education was funded by a national programme where 3 years’ military service was to be done after 2

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years of initial college education followed by 2 years of finishing studies after completion of military service. He gladly did it; joined naval service in 1949; did jet flying training; began flying combat missions in the Korean War. During one action, his plane was badly hit by anti aircraft fire. He could eject in time and was fortunate to be picked up by his roommate. After doing 78 flying missions in Korean War and receiving several commendations, he left the Navy in 1952. He returned to Purdue University and obtained degree in Aviation Engineering.

In 1957, Armstrong did his first flight in a rocket plane which was a transition to a real spacecraft. On knowing that NASA was seeking applications for astronauts for space flights, he applied and was selected as a civilian astronaut. He was given 2years’ intensive physical and mental ground training, inducted into spaceship programmes commencing with

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Gemini projects and ending with blasting on 17 July 1969 of Apollo II with Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. On 20 July 1969, Apollo II successfully landed on the moon. A few hours after landing Armstrong put the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) ladder on the lunar surface and said “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”. Niel Armstrong was the right man at a proper place at a correct time. His walk as the first man on the moon was the reward of the desire, patience, self confidence, dedication and determination to achieve something special in life very similar to that of Don Bradman, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Vivien Richard, Roger Federer, Charles Lindbergh, Tom Edison, Bill Gates and others.

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KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge is unlimited. Life is short. Discoveries, innovations and inventions are continuous. There is no end of learning. What is learnt is to be practiced. Application is use of learning. Combinations of these are ladders to success. Sports and science are best examples.

It takes about ten years to learn sports. Earlier sports were taught from the age of 15 years when a child is strong to bear physical and mental stress. So he could mature when he is of 25 years. Because of fast development of a child now, his teaching begins from the age of 6 years. He, therefore, matures by 16 years. Let us take examples from games of cricket and tennis. Sachin Tendulkar’s elder brother Ajit was being coached by Ramakant Achrekar. Sachin used to go with him. He began to play seriously from the age of 11 years and could impress Ramakant Achlekar. With his guidance, he was learning, practicing for long hours and was making high scores in school and Ranji trophy games at the

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age of 14 years. He had scored centuries in his debut in Ranji and Irani trophies. In 1989, at the age of 16 years, he was selected to play for India against Pakistan. He had to face the best fast bowlers of that time Wasim Akram, Imran Khan and Waqar Younis. He was facing them easily and scoring runs. In Sialkot, he was hit on his nose by a fast ball of Waqar Younis. Nose started bleeding. His face was fully covered by blood. Navjot Singh Sidhu was batting at the other end. His immediate reaction was that Sachin had to be rushed to hospital for treatment. He was about to run to him when he saw Sachin raising his hand saying “Mein khelega”. He hit the very next ball for a four. This is a great example of fearless confident application. His success is well known. He has created records after records.

Another example is of tennis player Leander Paes. He was born in Goa in India on 17 June 1973. His father Vece Paes was Goan and mother Jennifer Dutton was descendant of renowned Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta. He was brought up in Calcutta.

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His parents were both sports persons. Father was a midfielder in the bronze medal winning Indian field hockey team at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Mother captained the Indian basketball team in the 1980 Asian Championship. His education was in Calcutta at La Martiniere School. From the young age of 6years, he began playing football but immediately got more interested in tennis. At the very young age of ten years, he won under 10 years National Junior Doubles Championship with a Calcutta boy, Asit Chaturvedi, as his partner. This inspired him to take tennis seriously. His winning of tournaments at State, National and International levels brought him in limelight.

In 1985, Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy at Madras (now Chennai) took him as a trainee where he was coached by the international coach Dave O'Meara. The academy played a key role in his early development. Leander shot into international fame when he won the 1990 Wimbledon Junior title and became number one in the junior world rankings. He became a professional tennis player

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and began winning international tournaments regularly. He got more interested in doubles; had several victories at Grand Slams in men’s and mixed doubles events; in Davis Cup playing for India; winning a bronze medal for India in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games; winning men's and mixed doubles in the 1999 Wimbledon.

His consecutive Olympic appearances from 1992 to 2012 made him the first Indian and the only tennis player to compete at six Olympic Games (shooters Karni Singh and Randhir Singh earlier competed in five Olympics Games). After winning the mixed doubles Wimbledon title in 2010, Paes became only the second man (after Rod Laver) to win Wimbledon titles in three different decades. In 2010, he joined the Board of Directors of Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation co-founded by Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone to support talented athletes from India in winning Olympic medals. Apart from the ATP circuit, he also plays in World Team Tennis for the Washington Kastles. In 2011 and 2012 Kastles was the only team to complete an

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undefeated season at 16–0. It had not lost a match since 2010. He was named Male MVP for 2009 and 2011 for all of World Team Tennis.

He was the oldest man to have won a grand slam. He was among the most successful professional Indian tennis players and was also the captain of the Indian Davis Cup team. He was the recipient of India's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 1996–1997; the Arjuna Award in 1990; and the Padma Shri award in 2001 for his outstanding contribution to tennis in India. Paes completed the career grand slam in men's doubles after winning the Australian Open in 2012.

Thomas Edison is a great example of success of scientists through learning, practice, determination and dedication. He was born in Milan, Ohio, and grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. He was the seventh and last child of Samuel Ogden Edison Junior from Canada and Nancy Matthews Elliott from New York. His father had to escape from Canada for taking part in the unsuccessful

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Mackenzie Rebellion of 1837. In school, the young Edison's mind often wandered. His teacher, Reverend Engle, called him "addled". This ended his three months of official schooling. Edison recalled later, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint." His mother taught him at home. Much of his education came from reading R.G. Parker's School of Natural Philosophy.

Edison developed hearing problems at an early age due to scarlet fever in childhood and recurring untreated middle ear infections. Initially, he attributed it due to slapping on the ears by a train conductor when his chemical laboratory in a boxcar caught fire and he was thrown off the train in Smiths Creek, Michigan, along with his apparatus and chemicals. In his later years, he modified the story to say the injury occurred when the conductor, in helping him onto a moving train, lifted him by the ears.

Edison's family moved to Port Huron, Michigan when the railroad bypassed

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Milan in 1854 and business declined. His life was difficult now. He sold candy and newspapers on trains running from Port Huron to Detroit and vegetables to increase his income. He also studied qualitative analysis and conducted chemical experiments on the train until the accident as stated above. He obtained the exclusive right to sell newspapers on the road. With four assistants, he set up his press to print his own paper named Grand Trunk Herald and sold it with his other papers. Thus his career of businessman began. Fourteen companies were founded including the largest public company General Electric.

He got interested in telegraphy and became an operator at railway stations. In 1866, at the age of 19, he moved to Louisville, Kentucky as an employee of Western Union. His job was in Associated Press of wiring news between railway stations. Edison requested the night shift, which allowed him plenty of time to spend at his two favorite pastimes, reading and experimenting. Eventually, the latter pre-occupation cost him his job. One night in 1867, he was

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working with a lead–acid battery when he spilled sulfuric acid onto the floor. It ran between the floorboards and onto his boss's desk below. The next morning Edison was fired.

One of his mentors during those early years was a fellow telegrapher and inventor named Franklin Leonard Pope, who allowed the impoverished youth to live and work in the basement of his Elizabeth, New Jersey home. Some of Edison's earliest inventions were related to telegraphy, including a stock ticker. His first patent for the electric vote recorder was granted on June 1, 1869.

DESTINY

Destiny is the act and will of God. There is a saying “Man Proposes God disposes” He is the supreme power; controls, guides, helps in all of our acts. A man after death met God in heaven. He looked depressed and unhappy. God asked why it was so. He said that people on earth believed that God has fatherly feeling for all. But his life was not so. God told him to review his life on the

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earth. It was a full replay. He saw mostly four legs walking together, but there were two at many places. He asked “Who was the other person”. He said that He was the other parson. The man said “You were with me in good time, but deserted when were needed most”. God said “See the legs carefully”. On doing so, he found that the two legs were not his. God said that He was with him all through. The two legs at many places were His. Whenever he gave up the walk, He carried him on his shoulder. So he was wrong in blaming Him. Given below is the example of Barack Obama whose destiny made him the 44th President of the United States of America.

He was born in Honolulu on 4th of August in 1961 to a Kenyan father Barack Obama Sr. and an American mother Ann Dunham. His parents met while they are studying at the University of Hawaii. His parents separated when he was just two years old. His mother later married Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian. In

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1967, they moved to Jakarta. He was of 6 years..

After staying there around for four years, he returned to Honolulu. He studied at Punahou School, at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years and at Columbia University in New York. In 1983, he graduated from the Columbia University (major in Political Science with specialisation in International Relations).

After graduation, he worked at the BIC (Business International Corporation) and NYPIRG (New York Public Interest Research Group) In1985, he moved to Chicago to work as a community organizer. In 1988 joined Harvard Law School. He became the first black president of Harvard Law Review. In 1991, he graduated from the law school.

In 1989, he met Michelle Robinson and married in 1992. They had two daughters, Malia and Sasha. Between

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1993 and 2004, he worked as a lawyer for a law firm; at the University Of Chicago Law School as apart time lecturer teaching constitutional law; became a board member of a philanthropic organisation at the Woods Fund, Chicago.

He got elected to Illinois senate in 1996, 1998 and 2000. In 2002.he lost in primary election for the United States House of Representatives. In 2003, he was elected Chairman of ISHHSC (Illinois Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee). In late 2004, he became the fifth Afro-American Senator with 70% votes. He brought reforms; changed policies; started mandatorily videotaping for homicide; developed Earned Income Tax Credit for helping low income people; set up reforms in healthcare and childcare. The law to monitor racial profiling came into being because of him. It became necessary to

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note the race of the drivers by the state police.

In February 2007, he declared that he would run for the President of the United States. His most important agendas in his manifesto were end Iraq war, enhance energy independence and introduce universal health care.

He surprised critics by raising excessive amount of money through his campaigns. In January 2007, raised 36.8 million US dollars, all time highest in the Democratic primaries. In the first six months, 58 million US dollars were raised breaking past records.

He won against John McCain and became the first Afro-American President. He is a perfect example of desire and destiny.

LEADER

All creatures need leaders. They function as protector of the group. Birds and

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animals send out their young ones as soon they feel that they need no protection and feeding. Lion and Monkey are the best examples. To keep control over their females, males forcibly drive out grownups. When any one tries to return, he is made to fight. Whoever wins becomes the leader. Mankind has similar norms. Difference is in abilities. Ability of animals and birds is physical strength. Human beings require both physical and mental strength. Kings were the leaders of their people in past. Now politicians; heads of family, society, industry, army; bureaucrats are. While examples of leadership are mentioned earlier in other contexts, life of a virtual illiterate person called Baba Ramdev is a good example.

Ramdev, popularly known as Baba Ramdev, was born in 1965 in Alipur in the Mahendragarh district in Haryana. Ramdev. born as Ramkishen Yadav, attended school till grade eight in Shahjadpur in Harayana and then joined

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a gurukul in Khanpur village to study yoga and Sanskrit. He renounced worldly life and became a Sanyasi (monk) taking on his present name. He joined the Kalva gurukul in Jind and offered free yoga training to villagers. He studied ancient Indian scriptures and practiced meditation. He founded in Haridwar Divya Yoga Mandir for yoga and Patanjali Yogpeeth for research in the healing through yoga and ayurveda. They give free services to visitors. His shows are broadcast on several TV channels like Aastha, Zee, Sahara One, IndiaTV. Camps are held in towns and cities in India and abroad. In 2007 the KIIT University (Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology) awarded him an honorary degree of Doctorate for promoting Vedic Yoga

Life of Warren Buffet, the well known successful person in all his ventures, is another example. Though born in a middle class family, he had desire to

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grow. Having realised that the road to success is through education, desire, dedication, confidence, honesty, he began to follow them. He had acquired bookish knowledge by the age of 20 years but could not use it due to inability to face and speak to people. He was advised to read the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” of Dale Carnegie. It gave him confidence to express his views and desires to people. He read the book several times. It became the Bible and management philosophy of his life.

During his working in aviation training company, Flight Safety International Inc, his boss A.L.Ueltschi, the founder of the company, gave the following definition of leadership:

L is loyalty, E is enthusiasm, A is attitude, D is discipline, E is good example, R is respect, S is scholarliness, H is honesty, I is integrity and P is pride.

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Through these, he not only became a successful manager and the second richest man in the world but also established a concept for other managers. He defined and adopted the formula of management of the following five steps:

1. Choice: All businesses are same. Selection has to be of a business which you know well with its strengths and weaknesses. Important also is your interest in it as owner or manager or employee.

2. Delegation: One cannot do every work. It has to be distributed among the persons with interest and knowledge of the work. By this way, Warren could turn Berkshire Hathaway, a failing textile small company, into a giant multinational organization.

3. Selection of managers: Persons having honesty, ability and desire are to be given responsibilities of running the business

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4. Motivation: It is necessary at every stage. It has to percolate from top to bottom. Each has to motivate others.

5. Obstacles: These appear in different forms and are to be handled tactfully with patience and apathy.

CONCLUSION

Key to success is effort. From birth to death, effort has to be continuous. It has to be sincere and honest. Knowledge is the first step of life. It is acquired through education. It has no limit and time. Isaac Newton, the great inventor, said ”I consider myself as a young child picking up pebbles on the sea shore while the ocean of learning lies before me” Education is not only in books and class rooms but is everywhere. Desire to learn is another step. Determination is the way to fulfill it. Sachin Tendular, the cricketer, is a big example. He is from Mumbai (Bombay then). He used to go

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with his elder brother Ajit to Shivaji Park near his house where he played cricket for a club. Ajit was being coached by Ramakant Achrekar. When he became 11 years in age, desire to learn the game grew in him. He told his brother of it. Brother felt very happy. He taught him the basics of the game. He was picking up the game very fast. He began making big scores and could impress Ramakant Achlekar. With his guidance, he was learning, practicing for long hours and was making high scores in school and Ranji trophy games at the age of 14 years. He had scored centuries in his debut in Ranji and Irani trophies. In 1989, at the age of 16 years, he was selected to play for India against Pakistan. Other examples, stated in detail above, are of tennis player Leander Paes; scientists Thomas Edison and Har Govind Khorana; astronaut Neil Armstrong; industrialists Dhirubhai Ambani and Ghanshyam Das Birla.

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Confidence in self and others is another step. It is through exposure to society. First exposure is to parents followed by that of teachers and family friends. Observing their acts in life teaches how to face the world. Life is full of good and evil people. Both impart knowledge. Critics help by pointing weaknesses. Their views deserve right weight age. Corrections should be done if needed. Admirers build up confidence. Their thoughts are to be followed honestly.

Destiny is controlled by God. It cannot be changed but has to be faced diligently. Faith in God is its foundation. Before the start of battle of Pandavs and Kauravs, Krishna, incarnation of God Vishnu and protector of Pandavs, wanted to be fair to both. He offered the choice to them either to select him without use of weapons by him or his big army. Duryodhan, king of Kauravs, thought that one man was no match to army. He asked for army. Arjun was very pleased

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to have Krishna. In the battle, Abhimanyu, son of Arjun and sister Subadhra, was killed unethically when Arjun was fighting on other front. On returning, he came to know of the death. He and sister Subhadra asked Krishna, the God, to bring him to life. Krishna said that the killing was his fate. Making him alive will be to disregard will of Brahma, the maker of fate. Every person will ask for new life for their near and dear ones. So it should not be done. Several examples of importance of destiny in success in life are mentioned above. They show that fate or luck has to be combined with other ingredients for success

A leader is like the head of a family. His duty is to guide and develop his people. Animals and birds are best examples. They are born with this instinct. They look after the siblings till they are strong enough to be independent. They are left to fend themselves when the leader feels

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that they can face the life without him. A leader has to possess the qualities mentioned earlier. He has to think not for himself but for every member of his team. Life of Warren Buffet is the best example to learn from. History is full of deeds of leaders who have brought success for every person.

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